Drooping Willows Two is a party, three's a crowd

For @Laurel and @Tobius

It was a misty morning as the Ashrelle woman strode effortlessly over the knolls that made up a portion of the land surrounding the Willow Ridge pack, the abundance of cascading weeping willow branches tickling at the guard hairs that lined her ivory splashed shoulder blades. Recently her brother, Mordacai Ashrelle had come seeking her out to persuade her to return back to the Calarosa Mountains, but his plans where thwarted and instead she had extended an invite to her younger sibling to join the pack which in the end he accepted. This event had left an obvious added pep to her step and now fueled her adventure to the edge of the territory to see what was to be discovered today.

Allowing her amber gaze to peer at her now familiar surroundings, an almost disappointed sigh passed her lips at the lack of anything new or out of the ordinary. It was just another crisp autumn morning that held the promise of being spectacular without showing it. Yet. And so the woman trudged onward, following the boarder line that separated pack lands from neutral ones into the deeper portion of the Willow forest, nipping childishly out of bordem at any branch that drooped close enough to her jaws. Maybe one of the pups was around to play with again? Both Deacon and Castiel had enjoyed playing with the subordinate when she stumbled across them alone. Maybe Titan wanted to hang out? She thought that over then shook her head. The two had spent a lot of time together in recent days between hunting and delivering messages for the pack, she was sure that he was probably tired of her face by now. What was she going to do today? Just standing around doing nothing wouldn't do and she needed to do something, anything.

Laurel didn't want to admit it. Well, really she didn't want to admit a lot of things. But the one thing that she really absolutely did not want to admit to Jaime was that she had no clue where to go. Granted, the two of them didn't really know where to go in the first place- simply a general direction. But Laurel had a sneaking suspicion that they should've been there by now. Were they going in circles? It made her upset to think that they might be going the wrong way. And it didn't help that her body decided to remember the long journey it took to get to the Lore and promptly declare it's unease with all this traveling.

She tried to keep that to herself too. There was no time to rest until they got where they should be. She had agreed to travel with her dear friend to help him, not to hinder his mission. So she ignored the slight pain in her paws that warned of her previous injuries reopening. If Jaime could handle half a foot missing- obviously taken in a tragic and painful experience- then the Boughinn could surely handle some scratched up pads without any complaints.

In order to disguise her worries, Laurel had taken up an old habit- asking riddles. The dark female had used to come up with some in her free time in order to stump her elders, especially if she had wanted to get back at them for excluding her in various activities. If Jaime was both walking and thinking on riddles, then perhaps there was little chance he could notice the way his companion tried to carefully pick her way around small obstacles and rough patches of terrain. Currently she was waiting on his answer to one she had thought up last summer- "What is large, but makes no sound, can let loose destruction, but never leave the ground?"

She was just about to teasingly poke him for the answer when her grey eyes caught movement. A skunk? No it was another wolf- one with a peculiar set of markings, nipping at willow branches. Was it another loner, or were the two travelers about to trespass on pack territory? Laurel frowned at the latter thought- she didn't want another thing to worry about.

(This post was last modified: Nov 09, 2014, 09:56 PM by Laurel.)

There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by coyotes nearby. +15 Health

They were lost. He just knew it. He could feel it in his paws that they were going in circles. Perhaps not in complete, exact circles, but they weren’t going in the right direction. They should be there by now according to what Minka told them. Or did she lead them astray because of her “beef” with this Ash? Would or could she possibly do that to them? There was a chance that she had, but he didn’t completely believe that she gave them the wrong directions. She seemed like a nice woman as long as you stayed on her good side. Hopefully, they stayed on her good side and she didn’t give them the wrong directions to just spite them. Though, the way she had spoken to him, like he had done something wrong to him, worried him.

When the conversation between the two of them became silent, Laurel asked him riddles to pass the time as they tried to find their way to the caverns. Most of them were met with a either a questioning grunt or he said the first thing that came into his head to keep her happy. He wasn’t much of a man for riddles as most were just too confusing for his mind to wrap around, but a few he took a reasonable jab at and came close to. However, her last riddle at him completely confused. What is large, but makes no sound, can let loose destruction, but never leave the ground? His mind tried to think of answers, but he kept coming up with blanks. So he turned to her to say he gave up, but that was when he saw where her eyes were looking. Immediately, he followed her gaze to where they were settled upon another whose coat was remarkably unique. It was quite beautiful indeed. His pace slowed as he scented that she wasn’t completely alone, she was of a pack. Perhaps she could help them? Clearing his throat, he turned to the strange woman. “Excuse me, ma’am? Could I-we possibly ask for your assistance?” He asked politely. Perhaps they could come up with better directions as they had to be close.

An unknown baritone voice from behind interrupted her nipping of branches, body whirling around quickly to face this possible intruder, but her amber stare didn't land on a single wolf. Instead before her stood a pair of wolves, one female and the other male who was clearly the one that had spoken only moments ago. A quick inhale of the air revealed no pack scent clung predominantly to their coats, but the faint earthy scent and sweet odor of blackberries told of their encounters with the Black Thorn Downs pack. The scent alone almost made her nose wrinkle in distaste, but Enoki knew that that pack was not a friend to the Ridge, nor entirely enemies either. What on earth could these two wolves possibly want if they were coming from the northern end of the Lore to the southern?

Now facing the pair in a stiffened posture with her head held high to display her dominance she met the denim blue eyes of the swarthy pelted man who spoke, studying him for the briefest of moments. He was large in size and easily put Enoki's medium size to shame, though handsome none the less. Little experience was had in the area of courtship, but even if she didn't admit it she had a thing for dark coated males. With her inspection of his over she then swept her gaze to his companion. The she-wolf at his side was adorned with an array of dark grays and black with only a splash of brown along her chest and muzzle. Studying her in the same way she did the male, she let the silence between them linger a bit more before opening her own jaws to speak. "You're awfully close to pack boarders. State your business and there may be a chance I'll offer my assistance." Curiousness bordered her words though one could hardly tell with the firm tone she used to address the duo before her. Unbeknownst to her they were actually in search of the cavern wolves, a pack she knew the route to and had traveled to once before. Narime was their lead female currently and Enoki liked the woman even though they had only met a handful of times. She had even aided the piebald woman and her dark coated pack mate Titan, who just so happened to be her son, during a hunting lesson at the meadow situated not too far from where they stood now. A couple hours minimum was all it would take to reach their destination and the Ashrelle woman would jump at the opportunity to be put to use. She had to find entertainment somehow today.

Grey eyes flitted from Jaime to the stranger as he asked her for help. With a slight sigh, Laurel realized that her companion must have come to the conclusion she refused to admit. He must have known for a while now. Even if her riddles distracted him. Quite honestly, she didn't think he gave much thought to the first few, but she had seen the cogs turning on the last one. She would've been happy to tell him the answer.

But getting to the cavern meadows was important. Very important. Super important. As the skunk-colored wolf made herself to be in dominant position, Laurel lowered her ears and tail accordingly- no sense in ticking off a pack wolf. Especially one that could help them.

Help them? No, help him. Jaime was the one who needed whatever services this wolf could provide. Something that she, herself was supposed to do. Laurel squished the dark feeling that bubbled up within her- no time for such things. She didn't wait for Jaime to answer the woman- did she have to? They were a team, were they not? "I'm Laurel, and this is Jaime." she gestured to her dear friend with a tilt of her head. "We need help to get to the cavern meadows. Can you point us in the right direction, please?"

What if this wolf didn't give them directions? What would they do? It was obvious now, to the both of them, that they were lost. Would they go back to Minka and ask again? Laurel didn't think the pleasant leader would steer them wrong, but it be too embarrassing to ask a second time- weeks after their first meeting.